


why I love the moon

by kintou



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oneshot, Soulmate AU, starts off gaara/naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:34:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23451019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kintou/pseuds/kintou
Summary: Naruto has never liked the idea that he has a soulmate somewhere. He can't help but think of it as stranger ready to mess up his life, and his relationship. When he figures out who carries his soul mark, though, he can't help but change his mind. His soulmate is anything but a stranger; it's his best friendTranslation in Spanish!
Relationships: Gaara/Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru/Temari, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 41
Kudos: 322





	why I love the moon

**Author's Note:**

> Today (3rd of april!) is my birthday! So finishing this is honestly a birthday gift to myself :D 
> 
> Anyway, this is my first serious story written in 3rd p.o.v, so I hope it makes sense haha. 
> 
> I have a playlist for Sasuke: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FQzcKRQw8zgnS8N9ynRgh?si=IdBJhjLcRWmHGhR0BQAAiA
> 
> and a playlist for Naruto: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6nUail8Ps030et4qEqKfVW?si=H9xmw8xQQJ-k9HBm3H4Big
> 
> Please enjoy this~

‘You kept your shirt on again.’ 

Naruto looked to his side. His boyfriend, looking slightly out of breath still, wasn’t looking at him. He was staring at the ceiling. Naruto turned so that he was laying on his right side, and caressed the man’s white cheek, then traveled his fingers through the other’s red locks. ‘Yeah.. is that not what you wanted?’ 

Gaara frowned, something that wasn’t very uncommon for him. ‘I don’t know.’ 

Naruto shifted so that he was sitting up a little, leaning over his lover. ‘I thought you’d be bothered by it.’ He tried to grin, he knew his cheerfulness always calmed the other. ‘I don’t want you to see it when I’m.. you know.. busy with you only.’ 

‘I get it. It’s fine.’ 

It wasn’t though; Gaara had started this conversation with a reason. He just wasn’t one to start a discussion. It wasn’t the first time he had pulled away from this conversation by saying it’s fine. ‘I don’t like it being there either, you know. But it’s not like it’s distracting me from you.’ Naruto pulled up his shirt. There it was; his goddamn soulmate mark. The damn marking stood proudly on his chest, round like the sun. ‘I’m not interested in finding my soulmate, Gaara. Don’t worry.’ Now Gaara turned away completely. Naruto followed him, pulled the other man into his arms. ‘Are you okay?’ 

Gaara nodded, then said: ‘It’s just not about being interested. Soulmates are meant to be.’ 

‘Well, it won’t be the first time that I’d do something impossible. I don’t give a flying fuck about my soulmate. I like you. I’m not going to throw that away when someone new comes into my life. I won’t.’ 

Gaara turned. ‘It doesn’t have to be someone new.’ 

‘C’mon.. everyone knows I have my mark.. anyway, that shouldn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.’ He pulled Gaara in closer, and kissed his neck. Gaara nuzzled his face closer, closing his eyes slowly. He could feel how the other started breathing slower. The soul marking was really starting to stress Gaara out. He had made a point of not taking his shirt off during sex, but aparently that wasn’t exactly helping anymore. Making an effort to hide his soul mark was still an effort for his soul mark. 

No matter what happened, having a relationship with a big ass mark on your chest wasn’t easy. He liked Gaara though. The guy had always been sweet to him. 

He wished Gaara had some faith in him. 

Maybe that was too much to ask. To Gaara he might as well have ‘THIS IS TEMPORARY’ tattoo’d on his chest. 

Even when Gaara had closed his eyes, Naruto couldn’t stop thinking about it. The mark made his chest tight. When he thought about some new person coming into his life and changing everything.. It made him sick. Maybe it was the loyalty he always felt for every person he loved. Whatever. He wouldn’t hurt someone he already loved. 

He got up when he was sure Gaara was fast asleep. He wasn’t going to fall asleep anytime soon with all these thoughts in his mind anyway. He walked out of his room as quiet as possible, and walked into the kitchen. There he made himself some mint tea with lots of honey. Sasuke, his flatmate, had gotten the fancy honey again. He had to admit; the more expensive honey was definitely sweeter. 

‘Can’t sleep?’ A soft voice behind him said. 

‘Fuck!’ He turned around quickly, almost jumped into the air. ‘Try making sounds sometime, asshole.’ 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked passed him to the coffee machine. ‘Try not being balls deep in thoughts sometime, idiot.’ 

He chuckled. ‘Asshole. Are you making coffee, right now?’ 

‘Yes. I’m writing an essay.’ 

‘It’s two a.m.’ 

‘Yes, time at which essays magically disappear?’

‘Fuck off, Sasuke. Go to sleep.’ 

Sasuke took his cup from underneath the machine. The guy looked tired, and really intense in the sparse light of the kitchen. He wondered if he’d ever get used to how well the moonlight fitted his roommate’s look. 

Sasuke sipped his coffee. ‘Why are you still awake, then?’ 

He guessed that it was okay to tell someone, especially if it was Sasuke. C’mon, they had basically been best friends since forever. It hadn’t always been easy between the two of them; the first years of their friendship had been a lot of ‘trying to punch each other’s brains in,’ but they were better now. He trusted no one as much. 

‘Eh– don’t tell anyone.’

Sasuke nodded. ‘I actually have better things to do than telling people your secrets, hate to break it to you.’ 

He couldn’t help but chuckle at that. ‘Okay, asshole. Ehm– well, you know Gaara,–’ 

Sasuke frowned. ‘Your boyfriend.’ 

‘I– yeah. He’s asleep in my room right now. I know you said not to let him sleep over all the time, but this isn’t all the time, right? I mean–’ 

‘Get to the point.’ Sasuke was frowning into the air, sipped his coffee as if he wanted something to do. Well, he wasn’t exactly getting to the point so maybe that was natural.

‘Okay. Uhm.. Well, you know I have my soulmate mark on my chest, right? I just– I always try to hide it when he comes around, but he noticed that I do. I don’t want to hurt him, you know? I fucking hate the thing. It’s right there, on my chest, making my choices for me. And it’s making Gaara insecure too, which sucks. I don’t know– I just want to pick my own partner, without this big ass sun on my chest.’ 

‘I know you do.’ Sasuke was looking outside, the moon was shining through the window in their balcony door, beautifully. 

He watched Sasuke’s eyes, as they watched the moon. Sasuke was hard to fathom. ‘What would you do, if you got your soul mark right now?’ 

Sasuke finally looked back at him. He drank his entire cup of coffee before speaking up. ‘It wouldn’t matter.’ 

Something inside of Naruto turned at the pessimisme his best friend held. ‘How could you say that?’ 

That question earned him an aggressive glare. ‘Just like yours doesn’t, Naruto.’ 

‘You’re single.’ Naruto pointed out. 

Sasuke turned to the sink and poured a bit of water into his cup. ‘And I will be.’ 

‘Sasuke–’ 

‘Drop it.’ 

He nodded silently. 

Sasuke turned his way again. ‘Your boyfriend just needs to accept that your marking is there. You can’t do anything about it, it’s not like you’re fucking someone else behind his back, right?’ 

‘Fucki– of course not!’ 

‘Don’t make it complicated, then.’

He grinned, nodded. Sasuke could make things so much easier, even if it was with pessimistic words. His heart felt a lot lighter. ‘Alright.’ He sipped his tea. 

‘Good. I’m going back to work.’ 

‘What? Hang out with me–’ 

‘Go to your boyfriend, you idiot.’ Sasuke rolled his eyes, and with that walked into his own room again. That door closing made him feel lonely; it always had. He put his unfinished tea down on the counter, and then walked towards his own room. Gaara was luckily still sleeping. Like always, his lover was completely silent. He put his arms around him, and before he knew it he was taken away by deep sleep and busy dreams. 

He didn’t know if Sasuke had a soul marking, actually. When he’d ask his best friend about it, the answer would always be alike. Most of the time he’d get an: ‘it doesn’t matter.’ Sometimes his friend would give him a bit more, like an explanation on why he thought soul markings were problematic. The usually silent man would explain that he didn’t want his partner to be picked for him, or picked unconsciously. He wanted his partner to like him for him. Though, there were thousands of girls (and men too, which was more the bastards style), who wanted to give their heart to him. Some girls even said that they’d ignore their soul marks for him, losing their minds when he came close to them. Sasuke called them ‘fangirls’, and ignored them as much as he could. Whatever love people wanted to give Sasuke, the bastard would find a reason why it was ‘not real’. The soul mark wasn’t anyone's choice, and the people who were in love with him didn’t actually known him. 

One day he’d asked Sasuke: ‘What is real to you, then?’ 

Sasuke had answered, uncharacteristically: ‘Some hyperactive kid wanting to beat my ass for existing is.’ The answer had made Naruto’s heart warm. Sasuke had never been the most sentimental type, that he told Naruto why (and how much) he valued their friendship meant the world. The cold man’s reaction to other people kind of made Naruto assume that Sasuke did have a soul mark. That, and the fact that the asshole made sure that he was _always_ wearing a shirt with long sleeves. Naruto walked around their apartment half-naked all the damn time. In towels, in their underwear, in swimwear or just because it was hot. Sasuke didn’t even complain about it; but he had never shown Naruto any more skin than completely necessary. 

That. That made Naruto think that the bastard had a soulmarking underneath all that dark fabric that covered his skin. 

Gaara left early that next day, with a soft kiss to his lips. They had breakfast together, a slow and calm breakfast. Naruto was all jokes again, he couldn’t stop wanting to make the other man smile. With every bite of bread they had Naruto had another happy story to tell. Gaara couldn’t keep his eyes off the bright boy. ‘More coffee?’ It was around nine when he asked this. Gaara had shaken his head, looking down shyly. ‘I have to leave.’

Naruto pushed the button anyway, for himself. ‘Oy, why are you being shy!?’ 

Gaara chuckled. ‘I’m happy.’ Naruto walked towards his boyfriend and kissed his head. Tens of small pecks were placed on the man’s forehead. ‘You’re cute ass hell, you know that? Just makes me want to–’ 

The other door of the apartment opened, Sasuke standing still in the door opening. As if that was his sign, Gaara stood up. ‘Time for me to go, I think.’ 

‘What? No! Sasuke doesn’t mind.’ He didn’t actually know that, but Sasuke usually wasn’t bothered by much. The guy managed to live together with him, so that was saying something. 

Gaara nodded at Sasuke, politely. ‘I was leaving anyway.’ 

Sasuke returned the nod, then closed the door to his room again, leaving the other two men alone. ‘You’re both so cold sometimes. I wish you two could hang out together.’ 

Gaara smiled. ‘It’s okay. Maybe we just don’t match.’ 

Naruto pouted slightly. ‘I guess that’s true. Will you be busy this week?’ 

The other man nodded slowly. ‘I might have time for lunch. If not, I’ll see you at Shikamaru’s party..’ 

Naruto grinned. He was looking forward to being together with all his friends again. Shikamaru’s party’s somehow always became a big shitshow, even if the guy himself tried to keep everyone on the low. ‘Yeah, awesome! Just let me know. You can come over any time, if you can ignore Sasuke.’ He laughed brightly. ‘Can’t be that hard. No, but, anyway– see you soon.’ He pulled his boyfriend in for a soft kiss. 

Gaara pulled back. ‘See you..’ 

‘Yeah!’ 

When Gaara had left Naruto started making another cup of coffee. It was only fair for Sasuke, who had decided he shouldn’t come out of his room when Naruto had Gaara over (something that was completely unnecessary, but whatever). He stirred some sugar through his own coffee while he waited for Sasuke’s to finish. Sasuke would give him a disgusted look every time he saw him drinking coffee with sugar. He called him a barbarian on multiple occasions because of it. Though that kind of just seemed like the song he sang; Sasuke had called him a barbarian for putting tomato in the fridge too. 

For a while, Naruto waited with the two cups of coffee in front of him. He took a sip of his while waiting. Sasuke didn’t come out of his room, though. Even though the guy had seemed pretty keen on getting his cup of coffee before. Naruto knew the look; getting coffee was always the first thing Sasuke did. He could be a complete ass without it.

So, without really thinking much about it, he walked towards Sasuke’s room. He held Sasuke’s cup in his right hand, and opened the door to his flatmate’s room with the other, basically kicked it open. 

‘I made you co–’ The bastard was staring at him from the other side of the room.. two shirts on the bed before him, and so– so much skin. Naruto had never seen Sasuke so.. bare. His shoulders were quite broad, he was pale and– 

Sasuke turned around as quickly as he could. Like a flash the sight on his chest was gone. He didn’t think about grabbing one of the shirts from his bed. He just turned his back to Naruto. 

And Naruto– couldn’t fucking stop staring. 

On that pale chest.. that had been a soul mark, hadn’t it? 

Holy– holyfucking shit. So Sasuke did have one. 

Sasuke– had a soulmate. That was quite something to progress. Okay– Sasuke’s soul belonged to.. someone. Someone else. Wait– no– of course it did. 

‘Fuck.’ Sasuke cursed. 

‘Sorry,’ was the first thing Naruto offered. 

‘Fuck off.’ Sasuke answered coldly.

Naruto walked into Sasuke’s room. He’d seen him shirtless now, it wasn’t the time to be awkward about it anymore. He had to see the mark again. Something pulled him towards Sasuke, to his chest, to that black mark he’d seen for just a second.  
Sasuke was still standing with his back towards him though; acting like Naruto was a predator waiting to eat him or whatever the hell this look was. 

He put the coffee on Sasuke’s desk. 

Sasuke was shivering nervously. 

‘Coffee,’ he said, completely unhelpful. ‘I– I saw your mark.’ 

Sasuke’s eyes shot up at him. He had never seen so much emotion on the man’s face. Holyshit– that was really one for the books. Sasuke covering his bare chest, wine eyed and shivering. C’mon, a soul mark wasn’t something to be ashamed of, right? 

He’d have Sasuke opening up. It felt like he– 

‘Sasuke.. turn around. I already saw.’ Even if it was just a second; something was there. 

‘Fuck off, Naruto.’ 

‘Sasuke, just fucking look at me.’ He hadn’t meant to– he hadn’t meant to snap like that. At least it worked. Sasuke looked down and swallowed. Then he let his arms fall so that they weren’t hiding his chest anymore. 

Naruto held his breath as Sasuke turned around.  
There– on his best fucking friend’s chest, that beautiful pale chest– stood a pitch black moon. The exact same size as his own. As the sun plasted at the middle of his own chest. 

_As the fucking sun on his own chest._

Oh. 

_Oh. Fuck._

_‘Oh–_ Holyshit– I–’ What was he to say? What the actual fuck could he say in this situation? They were standing in front of each other. Both staring at the other like they were the most scary thing in the world. ‘Sasuke, I–’ 

Sasuke shivered, he seemed more terrified than Naruto himself. Though when he spoke up, his voice seemed fierce: ‘You said you had seen it.’ 

Suddenly he was overwhelmed by an instinct that said: ‘ _Run’_ He didn’t, of course. He definitely couldn’t anymore. ‘I saw that you had a soulmate mark, not that it was mi–’ _mine._ He wanted to say. Sasuke was his. That’s what that mark meant. 

‘That it’s _what?’_ Sasuke snapped. He sounded nothing but bitter.

‘Jesus, Sasuke. Nothing. That it– that it matches my mark.’ Was that the best way to call it? The moon and the sun, that’s what their marks said they were. That made sense. It did. That was the crazy bit about it. 

Anxiety settles in his stomach. 

This was going to be the death of him. 

‘Well, now you know. Leave.’ 

Naruto stepped in the room a little further; of course he did. Sasuke grabbed a shirt from his bed and pulled it on; as if it was impossible for him to have this conversation while showing Naruto the moon on his chest. 

Maybe it was. I mean.. if the mark on Naruto’s chest had been telling Gaara, his fucking lover, ‘ _this is temporary’_ , the mark on Sasuke’s chest was telling him that the bonde they shared was unbreakable. 

Soulmates– that was definitely a lot to take in. 

‘Stop it, Sasuke. For fucks sake. Why didn’t you tell me?’ He stepped closer to the other, who only seemed to flinch away. Then it hit him that maybe (probably), Sasuke didn’t want to be his damn soulmate. If he had, he would have acted on it, let someone know. ‘Did you think I would freak out? Kiss you out of nowhere? Why couldn’t we have talked about this sooner?’ 

Sasuke glared at him fiercely. He grabbed his own shirt where it hid his soul mark, as if he could lose it any second. ‘Didn’t you tell me yourself, Naruto? It doesn’t matter, because you want to choose your partner yourself. Fuck this higher power.’ 

Somehow that hurt. 

He had told himself (and Gaara) (and fuck– Sasuke, even Sasuke) so many times that he didn’t give fuck who his soulmate was. That he wouldn’t let a soulmate change his life. 

Now here Naruto was– hurting because his soulmate wanted the same. Because his own soulmate didn’t want them together. 

Suddenly he wasn’t so sure anymore. 

Sasuke continued, ‘You never even wanted this ‘ _big ass sun’_ on your chest.’ 

‘Shut up.’ 

‘No! What would you have wanted me to do? Listen to you saying you don’t want a fucking soulmate and then saying ‘ _oh by the way, Naruto, check this out.’_? You– Naruto, don’t want any of this.’ 

‘You don’t know what I want.’ 

Sasuke snorted, no humour to be found. ‘I don’t? Because you seemed _very_ keen on getting my advice on how to get rid of your soulmate up until now. Well here it is: forget this fucking happened.’ 

He didn’t know what came over him; he just couldn’t listen to Sasuke talk to him like that so he.. punched him? It had been a while, since they last fought. The last time they had punched each other they had been kids. Now they’d been living together quite peacefully, they’d been happy together. 

Their body’s seemed to remember every fight clearly though. Sasuke wasted no time before punching him square in the face. He could feel his teeth going through his lip, kicked Sasuke in his stomach in return. 

‘Talk to me, you asshole!’ 

Of course Sasuke didn’t. Fighting was more his style and Naruto had given him the chance. So Sasuke gave him another fist to his jaw, to his nose, to his eye. He kicked back. They fought like they could deliver words with their fists until they were both breathing loudly. 

Sasuke pulled Naruto up by his collar and looked into his eyes. In those eyes there was nothing but hurt.. nothing but pain. 

It made Naruto hate himself. He thought he’d gotten rid of Sasuke’s pain. ‘Sasuke, stop.’ His voice sounded so weak. 

Sasuke did, though. Naruto fell on the ground as the other man let him go. Then slowly, his best friend laid down next to him, arm length away from him. Naruto turned to look at him. Sasuke was staring at the ceiling, his eye was thick already.

‘I’m sorry,’ Naruto whispered. 

‘I fought back. It’s not–’ 

‘About everything I said about soulmates. About bringing people home all the time without giving it a second thought.’ 

Sasuke turned to look at him. ‘Whatever.’ 

‘No. No, it’s not whatever. I just– when I’d think about a soulmate I’d always see someone who I didn’t know, who’d come to fuck my life up.’ His face was hurting so bad. He could still feel his heavy breath. Sasuke looked like he was having a time just as bad. ‘But it’s– this is different. I’m.. I’m a little glad you’re not a stranger, and I take back everything I said.’ 

‘Naruto,’ Sasuke turned his way, a frown on his face. ‘Just because I’m not a stranger, doesn’t mean I won’t fuck everything up. I’ll do it worse.’ Sasuke was silent for a little while. He bit his lip. ‘You know me.’ 

Naruto grinned, something that seemed to surprise Sasuke to no extent. ‘I do.’ 

‘So?’ Sasuke asked, a dark hint in his voice. 

‘So.. You might fuck everything up, like you’ve done before.’ 

‘So, ignore that this has happened.’ 

‘Hey..’ Naruto now looked at the ceiling, knowing that he couldn’t handle Sasuke looking at him while he said this. ‘It’s not like you’ve forgotten who stayed around while you fucked everything up, right?’ 

That shut Sasuke up for the longest time. He turned, probably to stare at the ceiling as well. There was not much to see; a long legged spider had made the lamp his mansion. The light was off.

Naruto was the first one to talk again. ‘I think I should tell Gaara.’ 

Sasuke now turned to him again. He swallowed nervously (even though he’d deny it). ‘We’re not going to start dating. I don’t– want that..’ 

Naruto nodded, biting his lip. ‘Ha.. of course not. It would be kind of weird.’ 

He didn’t notice the way Sasuke’s heart stopped at those words. The way he closed himself off at that sentence. ‘Hn.’ 

‘But I should tell Gaara. He needs to know. I’ll ask him for lunch and I’ll– yeah– that will do.’ 

Sasuke, sadly, knew him like the back of his hand. He sat up and gave him a dubious look. ‘Naruto, you’re not.. very good at saying stuff like that.’ 

‘Yes I am! I will. I can tell him this.’ 

Sasuke looked at the ground.. ‘I– I can be there with you. I can tell him.’ 

Naruto shot up too, now. ‘No! It will just make him feel left out. C’mon, you know we have a habit of making people feel left out. I’ll be fine by myself. Don’t worry.’ 

Sasuke nodded slowly. ‘Okay.’ 

‘Okay...’ 

‘You have blood on your lip, by the way.’ 

‘Yeah, you punched my mouth.’ 

‘You should have blocked.’ 

‘You should get me some ice.’ 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but got up anyway. ‘Ice for the butthurt princess.’ 

‘Don’t be fucking rude.’ 

Naruto was taking too fucking long. Gaara was coming over for fucking _lunch_ not for life. It was obvious that Naruto had tried to make it all as nice as possible. He had gotten ramen from the nearest noodle shop, and he had made an entire pot of Gaara’s favourite tea. Sasuke had been watching him as he put the noodles into bowls, made the table look cute, and generally tried anything to satisfy his boyfriend. Still, he had said a quick: ‘Sasuke, I put your lunch in the fridge okay?’ It wasn’t unusual for Naruto to bring him lunch.. but he hadn’t expected it today. Sasuke wanted nothing more than to tell Naruto that he _couldn’t just bring him lunch anymore._ Sadly, Naruto wasn’t exactly open for feedback; the guys was nervous as hell. He even put on fucking candles on the table. As if he was going to ask Gaara to marry him or whatever. 

It didn’t matter; if they’d get on with it. Naruto had to tell Gaara that he had figured out who his soulmate was. Honestly, he really wanted to tell Gaara. It was something they had to talk about. Though when Gaara knocked on their door, he felt like his feet were going to give up on him. Sasuke disappeared into his room behind him, and he opened the door carefully. 

There Gaara was; smiling softly and holding a big cup from the coffeeshop around the corner. ‘The one with the chocolate sprinkles,’ Gaara said softly. 

And his resolve was out of the window. 

No. No, it wasn't. Gaara had to know. 

He could wait a few minutes more, though. He took the coffee from Gaara’s hand. When Gaara leaned in for his usual kiss, he kissed back but only then he realized that he hadn’t started the kiss himself. That was unusual. It was always him smothering the quiet man. Now he got a soft kiss. 

‘Ramen?’ Gaara asked. 

‘I– yes! I got ramen. Is that okay?’ 

‘Of course.’ Gaara took off his coat and sat down. ‘What happened to your face?’ 

‘Fight with Sasuke.’ Shit. Shit. Too soon. 

‘Huh.. I thought you two didn’t fight anymore.’ 

‘Hah, and now we did. He got annoyed. We solved it.’ 

Gaara nodded slowly. It wasn’t exactly clear if he believed Naruto, at all. Or if he just didn’t want to talk about it anymore. 

Naruto definitely didn’t want to talk about it anymore. ‘A- anyway–’ and then he started talking. Talking, talking, and talking. He talked and ate at the same time. Then he talked some more, ate some more. He told stories about his classes, and about a show he had watched, and about how he had had way too much coffee the day before, and about how he was once almost hit by a car. 

Naruto told stories Gaara had heard so many times before, and thought of a few new ones. He mentioned how delicious the ramen was _six times. Fucking six times._

And then Gaara finally said something. It was soft, and polite: ‘Naruto– ehm– are you nervous?’ 

Naruto glanced up at him. Fuck. He forgot how obvious he could be. ‘I– no.’ 

‘Did you want to talk about something? I kind of thought so, when you asked me to come.’ 

Naruto shook his head slowly. ‘No.. it’s, alright. I– I was actually thinking about what you wanted to buy for Shikamaru’s birthday. We could do something together.’ 

That’s when– not completely unexpected – Sasuke walked out of his room. Two pairs of eyes followed the black haired man as he walked to the bathroom calmly. Naruto’s heart started beating in his throat. He suddenly felt so– so fucking hot. _Soulmate. His. Hi–_ No. Gaara was sitting right in front of him. He had to– and then the room to the bathroom closed and he could breathe again. 

‘Sorry, what did I just say?’ 

‘Shikamaru’s birthday.’ Gaara said, helpfully. It wasn’t the first time he had forgotten what he had just said. That was kind of the way his mind worked. He was a mess most of the time. 

‘Right!’ He poured Gaara another cup of tea. In the bathroom he heard the water run. He couldn’t help but wonder how long Sasuke would be gone. Having him in the house made him nervous. ‘What should we get him? I feel like he never wants anything.’

Gaara nodded slowly. ‘Does he read?’ 

‘I don’t really know.. He liked to play chess and shogi and stuff.’ 

Gaara ate the last bite of his soup, then pushed his bowl back a little bit. ‘Maybe a book with puzzles? Like sudoku’s and stuff.’ 

‘I’m pretty sure he finds most of those easy. Even like the hard ones.’ 

Gaara wrapped his hands around his cup, beautifully. He truly was a charming, soft man. ‘Maybe I can get one of those, extremely hard ones. They are probably not easy to get, I’ll manage to order one on time.’ 

Naruto was basically beaming now. ‘You’d do that!? That would be awesome. That’s a good idea.’ 

Gaara smiled back shyly. ‘No problem. It’s no bothe–’ Gaara shut up as the door to the bathroom opened. Gaara’s eyes didn’t seem interested in watching Sasuke, but he followed Naruto’s eyes as he glanced over his shoulder. 

That– That fucking, fucking asshole. Sasuke, the absolute jerk, was walking out with a towel around his waist. His hair was wet and his chest was… bare. The fucking asshole walked out as if it was just a fucking showcase. As if Naruto had no fucking right to tell Gaara himself. As if he couldn’t fucking care less who saw his soulmark anymore. 

Naruto’s first instinct was to get up and punch Sasuke right in his face. Something, though, nailed him to his chair. It was probably Gaara’s eyes, who only left Sasuke when Sasuke closed his bedroom door. Sasuke didn’t even glance at them; probably knowing that a single glance would end up in the biggest fight he’d ever seen. 

That door closing was probably the scariest sound he’d ever heard. 

Gaara kept quiet. His eyes were questioning Naruto’s everything. The other man seemed to be shaking. Maybe to keep himself from kicking Sasuke’s door (and face) in. Maybe from punching Naruto. Maybe just to keep himself from standing up, leaving, and never coming back. That last one definitely seemed like the worst one. 

The silence that rested on the room seemed to last.. Forever. 

It wasn’t until Gaara moved, to put his phone into his jacket, that Naruto spoke up. ‘I didn’t know!’ 

Gaara looked at him like he didn’t believe him. There was something empty in those eyes. Not even shocked, just.. sad, empty. 

‘I mean! I didn’t know before yesterday. He– he wasn’t planning on telling me. We’re not– erm– planning on actually acting on anything. Don’t worry about it. Gaara..’ 

‘He– he clearly wanted to show me.’ Gaara raised his hand and pointed it to Sasuke’s room.

Fuck. Naruto was going to kill Sasuke. 

_His soulmate; that Sasuke._ ‘He’s an asshole. Gaara, please trust me.’ 

‘I always do.’ 

‘I’m not acting on it. Sasuke and I decided not to act on it. It– eh– it was even his idea to tell you today. It’s not going to mess anything up.’ 

Now that he said that he knew how stupid it sounded. 

Of course it would mess shit up. 

It was already messing things up. 

‘I swear, Gaara. Nothing changed. Not really.’ 

Gaara stood up, breathed in deeply. ‘You– Naruto, found your soulmate. You shouldn’t ignore it.’ 

Naruto swallowed. It really just seemed like adjournment now. ‘I do whatever the fuck I want, Gaara. I told you I wouldn’t let anyone mess this up when you first saw my mark and I–’ 

‘You said,’ Gaara whispered, fierce enough to get Naruto to shut the hell up, though. ‘That you wouldn’t let a _stranger_ come fuck things up.’ Gaara straightened his back, picked up his jacket, and pulled it on carefully. ‘This man, Naruto, isn’t a stranger. It’s the only person you would give your life for.’ 

Naruto breathed in sharply. ‘Not– I never meant that romantically.’ 

That’s when Gaara nodded. ‘You two have some talking to do.’ 

‘Gaara! Don’t act like you’re not important in this thing. You’re so fucking important to me and– I really like you.’ 

Gaara walked towards the door, nodded slowly. ‘I like you too.’ Then he turned around again. ‘I’m looking forward to your resolution. I hope it’ll be an honest one.’ 

Naruto couldn’t help but gape at his lover. Smart.. Calm– he truly was an amazing man. ‘I always try to be honest with you,’ His voice was so breakable. 

‘I know you try.’ Gaara nodded, as if telling himself that he was making the right choice. Then he breathed out very slowly, as if to calm himself. ‘Thank you for lunch, it was delicious.’ 

Naruto nodded, taking Gaara’s hand in his. He slowly leaned in, almost pushing the other man against the door. ‘And–’ Gaara started before Naruto got the chance to push his lips on the other’s. ‘Tell Sasuke that, if he lays another hand on your face I’ll rip him apart.’ 

Naruto grinned brightly. ‘Pff, you should see him! He’s looking worse.’ 

Gaara smiled sadly and nodded. ‘Bye, Naruto.’ 

‘Gaara!’ He turned his boyfriend around and kissed him deeply. His fingers tangling in the red locks. His breath got kicked out of him.

It was a good kiss. 

It really was. 

And somehow it still felt… like something he was convincing himself with. 

‘Erm, so see you on saturday?’ 

‘Yes, Naruto. Saturday.’ 

Only when Gaara let go of him, he realised that the other had held his hand to his chest, during that kiss. The mark burned heavily. Still the gesture, Gaara’s look, they seemed to be wishing him good luck. 

It seemed to be wishing him whatever was best for _him._

In blind fucking panic, he played with the idea of ripping Sasuke’s room open, and yelling at him at the top of his lungs. _What the actual hell had been wrong with him to barge in shirtless?_ That’s what he wanted to ask. Or at least fight about, if he couldn’t get an answer. 

At last he decided against it, though. A strange calmth had settled inside of him. 

He stood completely alone, in Sasuke and his’ empty apartment, and it felt like this was the start of becoming him. He’d lived, hiding his mark, for so fucking long. Fuck.. he’d hated the damn thing.

Now he was slowly walking towards their bathroom. The damp of Sasuke’s shower had faded, though Sasuke never really showered long enough to actually cover the mirror completely. He still took a towel and cleaned the mirror so he could see himself as sharp as possible. He breathed in deeply, stared into his own eyes for a bit. That was already weird.. Intense. But then, slowly, he took off his hoodie, and his shirt. He placed his clothes on the sink and then turned back to the mirror. 

He hadn’t looked at himself like that.. in a long time. 

Only now he realized that he looked like he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. Gaara had probably noticed too. On top of that his lip was thick, and his jaw bruised. It must have been.. hard to see him like this. He himself though, he was glad that you could read the last few days on his body. 

He put his finger on the sun-looking mark on his chest. Slowly he traveled his own skin, the darker pigment in it. He could feel himself holding his breath. He realized he had never touched himself with so much care. ‘Fuck..’ he whispered under his breath. 

_A soulmate._ He had a fucking soulmate. Gaara had been right. He would give his life for Sasuke. Suddenly he felt so guilty for telling Gaara all about the friendship he shared with his best friend. 

He thought about the conversation with his lover, earlier that day.

 _I never meant that romantically,_ he had said. Gaara had just looked sad at that, almost disappointed. _You two have some talking to do._

He closed his eyes, tried to catch his breath again. Did Gaara think that Sasuke _liked_ him? Could Sasuke like him that way? How much had his words about soulmates hurt Sasuke, then? He hadn’t meant to, c’mon, he would never want to hurt his best friend. Never. 

He opened his eyes again. 

The soul mark was still there. 

_Good._ That was good. 

The mark made him realize that he could fuck up over, and over again. It would be okay. He was linked to someone’s soul. It wasn’t something he could get rid of, even if he tried. So it would be okay. 

That was the first time his mark made him feel calm. 

Even if his soulmate was the most complicated bastard he could have found. 

Sasuke had left to go to the library near their home. Naruto made some simple dinner. The evening passed slowly as hell. It seemed years before the sun had finally set. The entire time he was just watching stuff on his phone, listerning to music, trying to fucking breathe, eating his (not to write home about) pasta. It was slow, it was fucking awful. 

He felt like his emotions were stuck in his throat. Somehow he felt like puking, do anything. As long as it wasn’t _thinking._ He just.. wasn’t exactly good at being alone at moments like this. He could call Sakura, but honestly, he didn’t want her advice. Sakura would definitely give me advice, though. She would try to fix everything. 

So at one point he found himself on the balcony, the pack of cigarettes they hid in the kitchen ‘just in case’ now in his pocket, and one hanging from his lips. The moon was bright. As if he wasn’t thinking about Sasuke enough already. It was shining brightly right in front of their balcony, like it had done a few days before. When he had asked Sasuke how to stop hurting Gaara with this mark. Ha.. it was all so weird now. 

He looked up at the bright sickle. _Mine. His_ moon. The beautiful fucking moon 

He took one deep breath from his cigarette and then took out his phone. He opened his conversation with Sasuke, stared at it for a while. Their last conversation had been about him bringing a new pack of coffee. It seemed so normal now. 

_You_ _21:39_

_Hey.. Sas_

_Ice Prince (™)_ _21:39_

_Hi_

That was.. Something. Sasuke replying right away, that was. 

_You_ _21:40_

_Could you maybe come home?_

That looked awkward. Whatever not much to be done about it. He really didn’t think he could bring it more cheerful. 

_You_ _21:40_

_I’m sorry You know how bad I am at being alone_

_I dont know i could tell sakura i dont know if youd mind_

_No actually, i mindd so Im not doing to tell Sakura_

_Fuck that_

_I need my best fucking friend_

He watched his phone for what seemed to be an age after that. No reply. He wasn’t exactly surprised that Sasuke hadn’t replied. The guy had seemed out of it, like he was hurting as much as Naruto was. Maybe he was. Who knew, not many people could actually read the bastard. 

Naruto sighed and took another breath from his cigarette. ‘Fuck..’ He whispered. 

What was he to do if he lost Sasuke, hm?

Was that even possible anymore?

Weren’t these marks supposed to bring soulmates closer, no matter what happened? It sure didn’t feel like they were doing that right now.

He stared at the moon again. Maybe he wasn’t completely alone. As long as the moon was looking down on them they had each other, that’s what their soul marks seemed to tell them. ‘Hello, moon.’ He mumbled awkwardly. 

The moon didn’t reply. 

‘Thank you for being there.’ 

The moon looked down on him. 

What a silent night it was. It felt like he was alone in the world. There hadn’t even been a car-alarm in the longest time. Thinking about the silence, the moon, he pushed his cigarette against the wall until it stopped smoking.  
And then the balcony door opened. 

Naruto straightened his back right away. He turned around quickly. There was Sasuke, in his hand he had a bag filled with cans of beer and a bag of chips. He looked a little lost too. 

‘Ah, you’re being dramatic,’ he told Naruto. As if it was something Naruto did on the daily.

The other just snorted cheekily. ‘I guess I am.’

‘Stop it.’ 

Sasuke sat down on their balcony. They really should get some chairs, actually, but Sasuke didn’t seem to mind the cold floor. Naruto sat down next to him, not really able to keep his eyes off his soulmate’s pale face.

‘You were looking at the moon,’ Sasuke said softly, handing Naruto a beer. 

‘I– yeah I was.’ 

Sasuke didn’t reply for a while. He seemed to be thinking about it. What did the moon mean to them, now? Would Sasuke look up to the sun and miss Naruto, sometimes? Sure as hell would hurt his eyes, so probably not. ‘I’m sorry,’ Sasuke said unexpectedly. 

‘For.. what?’ 

‘I was pissed off, don’t get me wrong. You were annoying as hell today,’ some way to apologize, ‘but telling Gaara was supposed to be your thing.’ 

Naruto stared at his soulmate's eyes, they seemed to be avoiding him at all cost. He slowly took a sip of his beer. It wasn’t everyday that Sasuke apologized. He barely ever thanked anyone, but sorry’s were almost non-existent for the Uchiha. ‘I– erm–’ Sasuke had been right. Telling Gaara should have been on him. ‘Thank you for apologizing. I appreciate it.’ 

Sasuke swallowed, nodded, and sat back a little bit. He seemed calmer, now that that was out. 

Naruto took another nervous sip of his beer. ‘I was a little glad,actually. Just that it’s out there now. I was too much of a pussy to do it myself.’ 

Sasuke chuckled. ‘It was really annoying.’ 

‘Shut up,’ Naruto pushed Sasuke against his shoulder, making the other man chuckle softly. That laugh. Fuck, Sasuke’s laugh had always been amazing to him. Seeing Sasuke laugh under the tender moonlight was.. the most amazing thing he had ever seen. 

He felt so calm. 

He felt so glad. 

‘Thank you for coming.’ 

Sasuke nodded. ‘I can’t help it.’ 

That was it. Ever since they had met each other, they had found themselves coming back to the other. When they were just kids it had been looking at each other, jealousy, cursing at each other, fighting and kicking each other in the face. In high school it had been.. complicated. They had vowed to never talk to ‘that annoying kid from elementary school’ again. Yet they found each other in class, in discussions, with fists against each other’s faces, and eventually they had found a best friend in the other. 

And they had wondered why the hell they couldn’t just let each other be. 

At least.. Naruto had wondered that. Sasuke had probably known. Sasuke had probably panicked as his soulmate mark appeared on his chest, knowing damn well that it matched with Naruto’s. Naruto.. who had posted shirtless selfies, and pulled off his shirt in front of all of his friends. 

Sasuke had known from day one.. and he’d probably been afraid as hell. 

He swallowed. ‘Sasuke..’ 

‘Hm?’ Sasuke sipped his beer calmly, glancing at Naruto as if it was just any day. 

‘You know that I’m.. glad that it’s you, right?’ 

‘What?’ 

‘My soulmate. I’m glad it’s you.’ 

Sasuke stared at him with wide eyes. It couldn’t have been that much of a surprise, right? They were living together for fuck’s sake, of course Naruto liked him. Sasuke looked like.. He was the first man figuring out that the world was round. It looked like there was a mental war going on in Sasuke's brain. He swallowed, opened his mouth, hasisated, and closed it again. Eventually he nodded, showing that he understood, and whispered: ‘I didn’t know that.’ 

Naruto grinned at that. So his best friend, _soulmate_ , had been insecure about it. He couldn’t help but grin at that. ‘C’mon, Sasuke. Of course I’m glad. I’d kick god in the balls for yo–’ 

Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s collar in his fist. For a second he thought that Sasuke was going to punch him again. But Sasuke didn’t– instead he pushed his lips to his. It wasn’t a soft kiss, like he might have expected to get from his soulmate at one point (the kind of kissed he was used to getting from his lover). The kiss was clumsy, rough, and completely instinctive. Their teeth hit, Sasuke pushed his tongue into his mouth, kissed him deeply, pushing his hand against the back of Naruto’s head. 

And even though it was definitely not the most sensual kiss Naruto had gotten.. It was the one who took over his mind the fastest. It made his fingers tingle, his lips burn and– 

And then– as unexpected as the kiss came– it was gone again. Sasuke flinched away as if he hadn’t been the one to initiate it. ‘Fuck,’ Sasuke mumbled. 

That was damn right. 

_Fuck._

But that word didn’t mean shit. 

The world stood still. The moon was softly lighting up Sasuke’s face. And suddenly, Naruto realized what the fuss about having a soulmate was all about. 

He realized that they could make the entire world disappear. 

A soulmate.. could be together with you in the void, and you’d be happy. 

That’s how that kiss had made him feel. Like he couldn’t give a single fuck about what the world would hit him with, now that he’d felt this. 

Obviously, the guilt would hit him later on. 

‘I– forget that happened,’ Sasuke mumbled. 

No way. No fucking way he was able to do that. Not in this lifetime, not in the next. ‘That’s getting kind of old,’ he replied.

Sasuke bit his lip, stood up quickly. ‘I’m sorry.’ 

Two of Sasuke’s apologies in one night. This honestly was becoming the weirdest night of a lifetime. ‘Sasuke.. We should talk about this.’ 

‘No. Not right now. I’m going in.’ 

‘Sasuke, fuck. Talk to me. Please.’ 

Sasuke just shook his head. He straightened his clothes and walked into the living room. Naruto followed him without even thinking about it, leaving their beer and snacks on the balcony. 

‘That kiss was not.. Nothing. C’mon..’ He stood still in the middle of the room, feeling lost as his soulmate paced. 

‘Shut up.’ 

‘Sasuke.. fuck. Do you– like me?’ 

Sasuke stopped in his tracks. He looked at Naruto, his eyes stood sad. That alone, maybe, was enough of an answer. ‘That doesn’t matter, does it, Naruto?’ 

‘Of course it fucking does! You’re my soulmate, asshole. I care.’ 

Sasuke turned around again, stopped at his door. Then, in a whisper soft enough to disappear (had Naruto not been listening this closely.) ‘Care about what you feel first.’ 

Knowing Sasuke, Naruto had expected that his best friend would start ignoring him. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’d get a cold shoulder, a flatmate who was never home, a brain full of worries. Now, though, he only got that last one. That was more than he could have asked for. 

If anything.. Sasuke seemed soft. Definitely careful too (but that was just typically Sasuke). The man lingered. When Naruto, early in the morning, was making himself a cup of coffee, Sasuke walked in in his pajamas as well. That sight had never done so before, but now it made his heart beat loudly. Sasuke was wearing a sweater Naruto had never seen him wear before; one with a wide collar. The tip of his soul mark came out from underneath it. It made Naruto gasp for his breath. It was as if Sasuke was, softly and slowly, reminding him that this thing was real. 

He had been living together with his soulmate all this time.

‘Can you make me a cup?’ Sasuke sat down at the kitchen table close to the kitchen counter. He rubbed his hands together as if they were cold, but too slow to actually heat himself in any way. 

‘Sure.’ Naruto got his own cup out from underneath the machine, handed that one to Sasuke, and made another one from himself. It looked weird to see Sasuke holding his favourite mug, a small drawing of a light green frog on it. ‘New sweater?’ Naruto asked. 

Sasuke carefully placed his hands around his cup, closed his eyes for a second, and then opened them again. ‘No.’ 

That was enough of an answer. He got the chair in front of Sasuke, and sat down. He fetched one of the puzzles from the middle of the table. Sasuke had told him to get rid of the pile with newspapers, magazines and puzzles. He was quite happy that it was laying here now; distraction. Sasuke pulled out his book, he was reading a collection of essays, and started reading with one hand still around his cup. 

It’s time to think.. that’s what both Gaara and Sasuke had told them, in their own ways. Looking at it that way, they’d both been kind to him. Whatever he’d do, he’d end up hurting one of them. If he was bad at anything, it was accepting that someone would get hurt. The thought alone made his brain stop. 

He glanced at Sasuke, who was calmly sipping his cup of coffee.  
His eyes traced Sasuke’s jawline, his ear, then the small piece of soulmark he could see right above his collar. He sipped his coffee too. Sweet coffee, sugary coffee. So different from Sasuke’s. 

He focussed on the little froggy on Sasuke’s mug. It was a complete mismatch with Sasuke’s stoic look. Though together with the bedhead.. It just made Sasuke look loved. 

Oh, how he had ignore how fucking special morning like these were. He had been fully prepared to wake up to an empty apartment this morning, that this seemed like the absolute calm. 

‘You’re staring.’ Sasuke mumbled. 

Naruto chuckled lightly. ‘Sorry.’ 

‘Speak. If you need something.’ 

Naruto nodded. ‘Yeah..’ He didn’t know if he needed anything. He didn’t think so. 

He just wanted endless mornings like this. 

Suddenly; the fact that staying with someone else (with Gaara) meant living together with them one day. It meant marrying someone else. It meant buying a house with them. It meant that he would never, never ever have a morning with Sasuke like this again. 

And with this soulmark.. It meant that he would constantly feel like something would be pulling him towards Sasuke. It would mean that he would always feel incomplete. 

Just like he was feeling so.. so fucking complete right now, even though they weren’t doing anything. 

‘Don’t hurt yourself, thinking too hard.’ Sasuke mumbled softly. Then he looked at Naruto’s Sudoku. ‘A four, there.’ He pointed at the paper. 

Naruto looked down, didn’t write anything. ‘I’m not thinking about the puzzle.’ 

Sasuke smirked. ‘I know.’ 

‘Can you do something for me?’ 

Sasuke looked up at him, intensely. Naruto expected an ‘ _depends’_ or an ‘ _I reserve my right not to’,_ but none of those came.

‘Yes.’ That’s all Sasuke said. 

Naruto swallowed. ‘Can you pull down your collar a little?’ 

Sasuke closed his eyes, swallowed, but tangled his fingers around his collar. He pulled the fabric down, almost half of the moon appeared.

He took in Sasuke’s skin completely, he tried to remember every little bit of the skin. The sight made his heart hammer in his chest. ‘Thank you.’ He whispered. 

‘Seen enough?’ Sasuke asked, ready to pull his collar up again. 

‘I don’t think I ever will–’ fuck. That had been.. too much. ‘I’m, so–’ 

‘No.. It’s fine.’ 

_I’m just a little confused._

_I still need to figure this out._

_I’m just having a lot of feelings right now._

All those things would have been so true. They would have explained what his heart was telling him right now. He didn’t say any of those things. He didn’t think he had to; Sasuke knew all those things already. ‘Do you want another cup of coffee?’ 

Sasuke nodded, looking at his book again. ‘Sure.’ 

He met up with Gaara at a coffee shop near Gaara’s work, on saturday morning. Switching between work and university his lover didn’t have a lot of time. He’d try to take up as little as possible; no matter how you’d look at it, this wasn’t going to be fun. 

Gaara was working at a table for two people when he walked in. Gaara gave him a small wave, he walked up to the table. ‘I already ordered.’ Gaara said. 

His usual. Because Gaara always remembered those type of things. He made an extra effort to remember, to make good use of it. Gaara was just that type of guy. One to try, that is. 

‘Thank you,’ Naruto said, a soft smile on his face.  
He liked the other’s personality, the way they acted around each other, Gaara did feel safe. But even while sitting here; his mind was somewhere else. His heart, or the mark on his chest (the two were so incredibly close that it was hard to tell which one), pulled him towards his soulmate. Maybe it always had. Correction; it probably always had. Those nights he stayed up to walk into Sasuke in the kitchen. All those useless fights while claiming to like Sakura.. Sasuke was definitely pulling him in. 

‘How are you?’ Gaara asked carefully. He closed his laptop and put in into his bag while waiting for Naruto to answer. 

Naruto didn’t see any other option than to be honest. He was in too deep. In their last conversation he had felt so weak. He’d felt like.. He wasn’t himself for lying like he had. He had always been straightforward and honest, goddamnit, that was one of his best traits. 

‘I’m– well I’ve been confused.’ Gaara nodded slowly. ‘And like you said, I’ve been thinking and talking to–’ How could he have this conversation without hurting anyone. ‘–him.’ 

‘Sasuke.’ 

‘I– yeah, to Sasuke. He told me to figure myself out, to give myself some time, you know?’ 

Gaara nodded. The waiter walked up to them with two drinks. Mocchachino for him and a cup of tea for Gaara. Gaara nodded politely. Naruto called out a happy ‘Thanks!’.

Once the waiter had left Gaara said, without a hint of emotion: ‘Did Sasuke tell you he likes you?’ 

That shocked him. That Gaara could ask such a thing so casually. Apparently Gaara had always felt (or known) that there had been more between him and Sasuke. That Sasuke liked him. ‘Not in so many words..’ 

Gaara sighed. ‘He’s a bit of a coward, I hadn’t expected that.’ 

‘Gaara–’ Naruto complained, or warned, or whatever he was trying to do here. 

‘Excuse me for thinking you deserve more.’ 

‘I– we haven’t– I have you.’ 

Gaara seemed, to say the least, surprised by that. It was obvious that he tried to calm himself as he sipped his cup of tea. ‘Excuse me– I– I came here under the impression that you were breaking up with me.’ 

Naruto swallowed. So to Gaara there hadn’t been much of a question about it. Gaara hadn’t even doubted that he’d leave him. ‘Not exactly..’ 

‘Oh,’ Gaara looked at his tea. He didn’t know what more to say. 

Naruto sipped his drink. ‘Eh– this is going to sound kind of weird, and maybe even more complicated to be honest. I think that– I think I need some time to think about everything. I need to figure myself out, I need to reconsider what I always thought.’ Gaara nodded, staring at him. ‘I like you! I do. I just don’t know what to do– right now.. I think I need a break.’ 

Gaara frowned a little. ‘So.. you do want to break up?’ 

‘No! Well– a little? I mean, I want a few weeks, to think about everything by myself.’ 

‘So you want to break up for a few weeks?’ Gaara asked, as if it was the craziest thing he had ever heard. 

‘Yes! Exactly!’ Maybe it really was the craziest thing. 

‘So that you can think about whether you want to date your soulmate or me?’ 

‘No! I mean– Just to think about everything that has happened.’ 

Gaara nodded slowly. ‘I don’t really.. get it.’ He didn’t sound sad. He sounded like he didn’t know what to feel anymore. ‘But if you think that it’s what you need.. I don’t mind.’ 

Naruto grinned brightly. ‘Awesome! You’re the best!’ He took his coffee, finally, and started drinking it. Gaara watched him as if he was the most interesting thing in the world, his moves slow.

‘Ah– Shikamaru’s present.’ Gaara then said, moving to get his bag. 

‘Oh! You bring it. We can still give it together, no problem. We thought of it together, right?’ 

Gaara nodded. 

‘Cool! You actually managed to get the hardest one? How hard is it? Show me?’ Gaara put the puzzle book on the table, Naruto leaned in, frowning comically at the pages. ‘What the actual hell. I don’t even understand what they’d want me to do.’ 

Sasuke looked.. fuck.. Sasuke looked good. He was wearing some elegant jeans and that same wide sweater. Only the idea that Sasuke had finally started wearing that sweater because he no longer gave a fuck who knew that _he already had a fucking soulmate_ , drove him crazy. 

Sasuke. Sasuke fucking Uchiha trying to let everyone know to back off. 

But he hadn’t told Sasuke about how he had handled things with Gaara yet. He didn’t know when to tell him, how to tell him. So their days had been as soft as that first one. They danced around each other a little, but it was peaceful. They hung out on the couch together in the evening and they drank their coffee together in the morning. They touched each other only on accident but it was fucking electrifying. 

‘Are you ready, idiot?’ 

Naruto himself had put on jeans, a dark green sweater with an orange detail, and orange socks in his sneakers. He liked how green looked on him. Green would always be a bright yet calm colour. Sasuke didn’t say anything about it. ‘Yeah.. just need to grab my phone. It’s still charging.’ 

‘Why are you here staring at me then?’ Sasuke asked, a hint of a joke in his voice. He knew by now that Sasuke didn’t actually mind it when he stared at him. If anything, he liked knowing it happened. 

‘You just.. look very good.’ 

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. ‘I look the same I always do.’ 

‘I– jup, I guess.’ 

Sasuke smiled, actually fucking smiled, and turned back to his mirror. ‘Except from the collar.’ That’s right. Sasuke would always wear turtlenecks or blouses. Almost every single day. 

Naruto ducked his head, just to hide his blush, and mumbled a quick: ‘Yeah.. that,’ before Sasuke could say anything more (of worse: smile that gorgeous fucking smile), Naruto walked towards the kitchen where his phone had been charging. Once he had shoved it into his pocket Sasuke was already next to him, ready to go. He fetched his coat, his scarf and then looked at Naruto. ‘You’re driving, right? I want to drink.’ 

Naruto snorted. ‘Doesn’t seem like I have a choice.’ 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. ‘That’s not your usual song.’ _There’s always a way. I do what I want._ Sasuke was an asshole for joking about something like that, and yet– 

‘Even I get proved wrong, sometimes.’ 

Sasuke rolled his eyes, threw Naruto the key of his car. Naruto didn’t actually have a car himself. The car he had broken down a few months before, and since Sasuke borrowed his car to his best friend it was never really necessary to buy a new one. It felt weird to Naruto, though, to sit in the beautiful black car. It didn’t exactly fit him; it fit Sasuke’s family. That, in its turn, made him feel special as hell. 

Sasuke picked the music as he drove. Sasuke watched his hands on the steering wheel. He wondered if this was the right moment to tell Sasuke that he wasn’t attending with Gaara anymore. That it would be alright to tell everyone that Sasuke was his soulmate now. 

He focussed on the road instead of doing so. 

He got a message from Gaara. He focussed on the road. Sasuke glanced at his phone and mumbled a quick: ‘Gaara is waiting for you to give the present.’ 

Naruto lost his breath. Tried to tell himself it was no big deal. It would be fine. Sasuke wouldn’t think anything of it. ‘Okay.’ 

The party was.. a lot busier than they had expected. Shikamaru wasn’t one to give big party’s. Apparently though, a lot of Tamari’s friends and people from Shikamaru’s work had come. People Naruto didn’t know.

It also really, really sucked that Gaara’s brother and sister would both be there the entire evening; they’d have a lot of time to beat him up. To stare at him with those stern eyes. Gaara’s family could be scary as hell.

‘You’re getting nervous,’ Sasuke mumbled. 

He carefully parked the fancy car. Bit his lip. ‘Gaara’s family is in there.’ 

Sasuke stared at him for a few seconds. ‘That’s nothing to be nervous about. You didn’t do anything.’ Sasuke opened his door, stepped out, and said a slow: ‘I did.’ 

He wasn’t so sure about that himself. No one would be happy to hear that their brother’s heart had been broken. Especially not if Naruto walked in with his new found soulmate right after. ‘I don’t know.’ 

Sasuke studied him carefully, but let it go. Shikamaru opened the door, with Tamari right behind him. ‘Happy birthday!’ Naruto called. ‘Gaara has your present!’ 

Shikamaru nodded a thanks. Sasuke, without saying anything, pulled out some fancy looking cigars. Shikamaru smirked. ‘Knew I could count on you,’ he told Sasuke, who just chuckled in return. Recently they’d been getting along just fine (both giving the same reason: ‘he’s not loud.’) That was cool. It was about damn time that Sasuke was starting to make some friends. 

Once they were inside Gaara found them easily. He was silent and awkward around Naruto. Without really thinking about it, Naruto grinned brightly and placed an arm around Gaara’s shoulder. ‘You’re going to love what Gaara managed to get his hands on–’ and Sasuke was gone. Naruto could feel it in the chest that pulled them closer. Sasuke was somewhere in the kitchen, greeting Sakura, anywhere but near Gaara. 

And that’s when he realized that he’d waited too long to tell Sasuke that he’d broken up with his lover. Or.. a _break._ That’s what he had been calling it. Standing in one room with Gaara and his soulmate kind of made him regret that he’d called it that too. He should have been clear; he wanted to stay with his soulmate so he couldn’t give Gaara what he deserved. Not now. Not ever. 

‘A puzzle book?’ 

He let go of Gaara, a blush on his face. Gaara looked as awkward about it as he did. ‘Uh– Wha– Yeah! It’s the hardest level that exists. We thought you’d like to see if you can outsmart the smartest.’ 

Shikamaru smirked lazily. ‘I might.’ 

He turned to Gaara, whispered: ‘See? He likes it.’ 

‘You didn’t have to get this idiot anything, Gaara!’ He heard Tamari call, walking up to them. Gaara looked up at his sister, ready to start the conversation– and he sneaked away. Quickly he moved towards the kitchen, where he got himself cola, and then he moved to the couch where Sakura was sitting. Everyone greeted him. Choji had a bowl of chips on his lap and let go of it to wave at him for a second. Ino blew him some kisses, yelling ‘Hi!’ She was certainly drunk already. After greeting everyone he sat down next to Sakura. 

‘Naruto baby! How are you?’ Sakura sounded like she was already a little bit tipsy. She was always sweet when tipsy, nosy too, though. ‘Man, I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.’ 

And that had been the case.. he felt like he hadn’t seen her in ages. He’d really missed her. Somewhere he felt stupid for not telling Sakura about finding his soulmate. About _Sasuke._ ‘Hey! Sakura you look beautiful, as always.’ 

Sakura blushed, then punched his shoulder. ‘Ha! Thanks. Why are you not drinking anything? Get a beer!’ 

‘Nah, I’m driving Sasuke home.’ 

‘Can’t you go home with Gaara? He doesn’t drink, right? 

Jumping right to it, hm. ‘We’re– we’re not dating right now, actually.’ He could feel the blush on his face. ‘We’re on a break.’ 

Sakura’s eyes went wide. ‘A break?’ It really did sound stupid, didn’t it?

‘Like.. we’re figuring some things out.’ He lowered his voice, hoping Sakura would do the same. 

He could tell she was trying to stay calm, sipping some of her wine and thinking visibly. ‘Figuring some things out.. like what? I thought you were.. pretty happy.’ 

Naruto nodded. They were. He liked Gaara. He loved– fuck. He loved Sasuke. ‘Yeah.. I guess.’ 

‘So?’ 

‘So what?’ he whispered. He could tell that Ino was listening too, at this point. 

‘So, what happened?’ 

He glanced at Gaara, who was calmly chatting with Tamari. They glanced at him, and then quickly looked away again. Definitely talking about him, then. His eyes searched for Sasuke. Sasuke was chatting with someone from Shikamaru’s work, generally looking grumpy as hell. The guy had light, almost grey hair, and seemed to be making a lot of jokes. Sasuke was drinking his wine _a lot_ faster than he should.

‘I– I found my soulmate.’ 

Sakura’s mouth fell open. She gripped her glass of wine tightly. ‘Wow.. that’s.. really something.’ 

He smiled shyly, trying to avoid her eyes. ‘It is.’ 

She pushed his shoulder, to get his attention, drank the rest of her wine, and then said: ‘So who is it? I never thought you’d actually.. change anything for someone new in your life. I get that a soulmate is special, Naruto, but there were moments that you were so stubborn– so stubborn that I thought it would have to be me, or Sasuke, for you to actually accept it.’ 

Naruto snorted jokingly. _Sasuke, hm._ Joke’s on her. 

Sakura’s eyes widened at his reaction. ‘Is it someone we’re close with?’ 

‘Shh, Sakura. Keep it down.’

‘Like you ever keep it down, idiot. So? Who?’ 

He swallowed. He’d be admitting.. saying this aloud for the first time. He was glad that it was Sakura he was telling it to. She seemed to have hoped for something like this to happen. ‘It’s Sasuke.’ He lowered his sweater a little, showing a bit of his sun. ‘He has a big fucking moon, right here. He’d been hiding it from me ever since I got mine.’ 

Sakura rolled her eyes. ‘He could have saved all of us a fuckton of trouble.’ 

‘I made him doubt it.’ 

‘You sure of hell never had anything nice to say about soulmates.’ 

He chuckled. ‘Damn sure I didn’t.’ Sasuke walked out of the room again, got a refill of wine. His glass way too fucking full. He let the quirky pale man talk him up again. Rolled his eyes a lot. ‘Do you think he’s sulking?’ He asked Sakura. 

‘I don’t know. You were pretty handsy with Gaara while getting in, but I don’t think it’s enough to make Sasuke doubt what you two have.’ 

Naruto swallowed. He fucking wished he had a beer right now. ‘We don’t _have_ anything yet. Except– uhm.. being soulmates, that is.’ _Being goddamn soulmates. Holyshit._

‘What? When you came in he looked at you like you tapped that real good.’ That was drunk Sakura talking, damn sure. 

‘He did?’ 

Sakura chuckled. ‘Don’t act surprised! He’s just been good at hiding it, but it slips through once in a while. Today–’ Sasuke glanced their way, again, loving eyes for him and nothing but him. It made Sakura giggle. ‘Today he’s really lost his mask.’ 

‘You think he likes me?’ He sounded so shy about it.

‘Naruto.’ Sakura deadpanned. ‘He’s your soulmate. Why the fuck are you wasting time like you’re trying to pick up someone you’ve never met before? You’re literally meant to be together.’ 

He breathed. 

Finally he could breathe. 

Sakura was absolutely right. 

And Sasuke was still talking with some stranger in the back of the room. Some stranger who was definitely trying to flirt with him. He wondered how much Sasuke was.. replying to it. 

‘Don’t hurt yourself, sweety. You’re glaring.’ 

‘What?’ 

‘Oeh– ain’t that a jealous look I’ve never seen before.’ 

He swallowed, turned to Sakura and sipped his soda. ‘I’m not jealous.’ 

‘Ha, sure you aren’t.’ 

‘Shut up, please.’ he begged. ‘Tell me how you’ve been!’ 

‘Nah, your last few weeks sound way more interesting.’ 

‘Sakura– I..’ _Honest, Naruto._ ‘I really need distraction.’ 

Sakura chuckled. ‘Okay. Fine.. eh– so I ordered a super expensive dress online, but the postman fucking, put the box outside of my door while I wasn’t home–’ He breathed in, out, in again. Sasuke wouldn’t give in to some fucker flirting with him. Not now that they’d gotten so close to being who they were supposed to be.

Sakura chatted for as long as she had to. Eventually she got pretty into her own story. Then she asked Naruto to get up with her to refill her wine. He grinned, he’d expected her to ask sooner. Sasuke had had a steady four glasses of wine (halfway his fifth one) in the time Sakura had one (big) glass. He wondered how the guy was still standing, he wasn’t exactly good at holding his alcohol. 

Sakura held his hand while they walked towards the kitchen, passed Sasuke. He stopped when Sasuke looked at him, though. He couldn’t ignore him. He put a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, whispered a soft: ‘Are you okay here?’ 

‘M’fine–’ he was slurring. ‘Don’t touch me.’ 

He frowned. Sasuke had been.. so kind when they came in. He had told Naruto not to worry about Gaara, and he’d had a loving energy around him. Now this was different.   
Sakura pushed her head around the corner, Naruto glanced at her, mumbled a quick ‘Coming..’ Before walking into the kitchen with her. He kept an eye on Sasuke though, as she poured her own glass. That guy was getting closer with the second. He placed his hand all over Sasuke’s arm, with everything he said. He whispered things in Sasuke’s ear without actually having to and then– his hand landed on Sasuke’s hip, dangerously close to– ‘Sakura, sorry– I’m–’ 

Sakura glanced at the situation. ‘Naruto.. Calm do–’ 

But he was.. not going to fucking stand here. His chest had pulled him towards Sasuke the entire fucking evening. It was aching, it was screaming for him to do something. Now this asshole was looking at Sasuke as if he had a chance to take him home.

He’d never been jealous. Never. 

But this was his fucking soulmate. His best friend. It was different in so many ways. 

Naruto walked up to them, grabbed the guy’s wrist, making sure it wasn’t on Sasuke’s hip anymore, and then pushed himself between the guy and Sasuke. ‘Getting a little too handsy, don’t you think?’ He asked. 

The guy chuckled. ‘Why? He said he ain’t taken.’ This guy was drunk too, great. 

Naruto glanced at Sasuke. ‘Not taken, Sasuke?’ _What the hell?_

Sasuke smirked clumsily. ‘Well, I’m not, am I?’

He was definitely pouting about something, being dramatic as hell. But that didn’t take away that Sasuke was not his. The soulmark didn’t mean such a thing; if it did, Naruto would have been playing for a long time. 

Naruto glared at Sasuke. ‘No– I just– You’re interested in this guy?’ 

Sasuke stayed quiet. 

The other guy went wide eyed, even if it was just for a second. Good, so Sasuke wasn’t actually interested. That was.. fuck, he was really glad about that. 

He spoke words that he didn’t mean, but that he definitely felt in that second: ‘Doesn’t it mean anything that you have a _soulmate,_ asshole?’ 

The other guy piped up casually. ‘I don’t mind, actually.’ 

‘I do, asshole.’ Naruto replied. 

Sasuke glared at Naruto, fiercely. Holyshit. That was a new look. He didn't remember Sasuke ever looking so fucking angry. ‘Go tell your fucking boyfriend that, Naruto.’ 

‘I– Gaara?’ He really, really should have told Sasuke before coming here. He really should have fucking told everyone. He should have shouted it from the rooms. But now Sasuke was breathing fire, and it started to look like this would become a fight again– 

Somewhere behind him he heard Sakura’s soft voice. ‘Calm down, boys.’ 

It brought back memories of their high school. It made him feel warm. He would never, never ever fucking hurt Sasuke again. ‘We broke up, Sasuke.’ _well not in those exact words but.. that worked for now._

And suddenly – completely unexpected – all tension fell from Sasuke’s eyes and body. It was as if there was no anger left inside of him anymore. Just.. nothing.

‘Sasuke– I–’ 

Sasuke turned towards the guy in front of him. ‘I’m linked to someone’s soul, sorry,’ he said. That was a drunk Sasuke, or a relieved tispy one. Anyway, that was a lot for him to say. 

And once that tension was gone– I realized everyone was staring at us. From Shikamaru, who seemed ready to kick some people out, to Gaara, who seemed conflicted as hell, to Sakura, who seemed to be _glad_ that this was finally happening. As if she’d been waiting for it since day one. 

Okay. So now everyone knew. That was.. alright. There was no need to hurt Gaara even more though, so they’d better stop making a scene about it. 

‘Okay. Sure.’ The guy said. 

Naruto nodded, a little embarrassed. ‘Sorry for the hassle.’ 

The guy grinned, sharp teeth showing. ‘It.. looks complicated. Not my business.’ He held up his hands, as if to say _I don’t want anything to do with this._

Naruto turned to Sasuke. Sasuke was slouching, unlike himself. ‘Maybe we should go.’ He pulled Sasuke in a little, an arm around his waist. While doing that he pulled down Sasuke’s sweater accidently. 

The tip of Sasuke’s moon was showing. 

Sasuke nodded, closed his eyes as if to catch a breath. ‘Maybe.’ 

‘Are you dizz–’ 

Ino, of fucking course, yelled: ‘Is that Sasuke’s soulmark?!’ 

Sasuke looked up at her, smiled cockily, like the druktard he was in that second. ‘Hm.. damn right.’ 

‘Sasuke, maybe not right now.’ 

Sasuke had already linked his fingers around his collar, ready to pull his sweater down like he knew he could. ‘Sasuke– Gaara is right there, I’d appreciate it if you–’ Sasuke let go of his collar again, rolled his eyes.

He put his mouth next to Naruto’s ear. ‘You’re too kind.’ 

Maybe that was true. 

If he’d really have to listen to what his heart, or his guts, were telling him, he would show everyone in the wide world Sasuke’s soulmark. Right now though.. he wanted to leave without hurting Gaara, and to be alone with Sasuke. 

So he said his goodbye to Sakura, and then to Tamari (who didn’t seem all too mad at him, luckily), he waved at all the other people, and then walked up to Shikamaru. 

‘We’re sorry we’re leaving early and about the drama,’ he told Shikamaru. Next to him he heard Sasuke mumble a quick ‘ _You_ are.’ That both him and Shikamaru ignored.

Shikamaru seemed far from upset. He had a lazy smile on his face. ‘No worries. Sucks that you two had to do this whole thing at _my_ party, but I guess I’m glad it finally happened.’ 

Naruto stared at the genius. “What do you mean?’ Sasuke barely paid him any mind (Sasuke always managed to not be surprised by Shikamaru’s knowledge.) 

‘Hm.. How can I say this.. I guess: it was obvious without the soulmarks. Do you think anyone spelled it out for night and day, yin and yang? No, but you two are so stupid that–’ 

‘Pft, shut up!’ 

‘Whatever. Leave, before Tamari decides she actually is angry at you two.’ 

‘Smart thinking,’ Naruto said. Sasuke just rolled his eyes. They walked towards the door, Naruto’s hand was still on Sasuke’s arm. Outside it was a beautiful night. The sky was completely clear, and the moon was thin and bright. 

‘I will never look at the moon the same,’ Naruto mumbled, completely distracted by the beautiful source of light. 

‘Fuck the moon.’ Sasuke mumbled. ‘Look at me.’ 

Naruto chuckled. Drunk Sasuke was sweet, honest. ‘Okay, drunktard.’ 

‘Fuck you.’ 

‘Sure, Sure.’ He unlocked the car. He was ready to get in when he noticed a familiar person standing close to the car. Sasuke’s first reaction was to get up too; to get out of the car. Naruto mumbled a soft: ‘It’s fine,’ that made Sasuke sit down, the door still open so that he could hear everything. 

Gaara was standing in the bright light of the moon. He looked a little hurt, but more than that determined. ‘Hey, Naruto.’ 

‘Gaara. Hi. Sorry for–’ 

‘Don’t apologize. I know your intentions.’ 

He nodded slowly. Gaara was truly, honestly, a good guy. ‘Thank you,’ and he meant it. 

Gaara nodded, as if to reassure himself of his own thoughts , and then slowly said: ‘Your decision.. I don’t think that’s what you need. You’ve made your choice already, didn’t you? You know yourself now.’ 

For a second he wondered what Gaara was talking about, and then, when it all clicked, he said: ‘You’re right. I have.’ 

‘Good. It’s good to see.’ 

‘Thank you, Gaara. I’m sorry.’ 

Gaara shook his head. ‘You're a good man.’ 

‘Thank y–’ Gaara walked a little further. He bowed down so that he could look into the car. Sasuke glared right back at him. This seemed to be the first time ever they gave each other so much attention. ‘Uchiha. I don’t know your personality that well, but if you’d ever hurt Naruto I’d grab a slicer and scrape that mark off your chest.’ 

Sasuke snorted. ‘Sure, go ahead.’ 

Naruto swallowed. He sure hoped Gaara wouldn’t keep him to it. ‘Gaara–’ 

‘Drive safe. Good night.’ 

They hadn’t even stepped through the door when Sasuke said a reckless, slurred: ‘Kiss me.’ 

He turned to his soulmate, who was leaning against the outside of their apartment door. ‘You’re drunk.’ 

‘I knew you’d say that. Coward,’ there was no hate in hit tone. He might as well have said idiot, sweetheart, whatever. 

Naruto took out his key. ‘We’ve been together for so long, and we will be, so don’t blame me for wanting this to be special.’ 

Sasuke walked in after him. ‘Fine, kiss me tomorrow.’ 

‘You’ll be hungover.’ 

‘Are you making excuses not to kiss me?’ 

Naruto turned, closed the door and pushed Sasuke against the door lightly. ‘I’m through with making excuses.’ 

His soulmate smirked at him, a horny hint in his eyes. ‘Thank god you are.’ Sasuke gripped Naruto by his trouser loops, pulled him against his hips. He gasped at the touch. 

‘Sasuke..’ 

‘I know, but don’t stay away from me today.’ 

‘We won’t do it.’ He said, again. 

‘Make it special without fucking me, then. You have a creative mind, I’m sure–’ 

Naruto pulled off his shirt. He did so without thinking about it, just because he wanted Sasuke to feel as overwhelmed by his soulmark as he had been by the other’s. ‘We’re meant to be.’ Naruto whispered. Sasuke hissed, staring at him intensely. ‘Does that knowledge do things to you?’ 

‘Always,’ Sasuke replied.  
Naruto had almost forgotten that Sasuke had known for a long time, and had feared for a long time, that they were supposed to be. 

‘Take off your shirt for me.’ Naruto said. 

Sasuke did so without even thinking about it. He pulled off his sweater, then his shirt, and stared at Naruto as if he held all the answers in the world. Naruto in his turn, stepped a little closer to his soulmate. He touched Sasuke’s soulmark with the tips of his fingers, lightly. Sasuke gasped, tried to breathe calmly. ‘Beautiful,’ Naruto mumbled. 

He could see that this wasn’t what Sasue had expected, and knew that it was a lot more heavy than what he had. ‘Shut up.’ Sasuke mumbled. 

Naruto took another step closer. Slowly, very slowly, he let his chest fall against Sasuke’s. Their marks touched each other lightly. It felt as if their souls had been aching, waiting, begging, for them to get this close. 

The world stopped.  
Naruto looked down at their chests. Sasuke followed his eyes. Their foreheads landed against each other. Their skin hot against the other’s. He could feel Sasuke’s deep breaths.

Naruto swallowed. ‘Sasuke..’ 

‘Hm?’ 

‘I’ve said this before, but carelessly, so I want to do it again: I’m, honestly, so fucking glad that it’s you.’ 

Sasuke looked up at him. He seemed to be trembling slightly. He was a drunk, emotional mess, so unlike himself. Still Naruto allowed it when Sasuke brought their lips closer together. Very softly, Sasuke kissed him. Naruto caressed his cheek lightly, to let him know that this was okay.Their lips slowly moved together, for the softest kiss Naruto had ever experienced. And then Sasuke pulled back again. 

There was something fierce in those eyes again. 

Naruto loved that look. 

Sasuke was always up to good stuff, even if he was up to no good. ‘Sleep in my room tonight,’ Sasuke said. ‘I won’t try anything but– promise you’ll kiss me, for real this time, if I wake up without any regret.’ 

Naruto caressed his best friend’s hair softly, tangled his fingers in those dark locks. He couldn’t help but nod. Trying not to get too hooked on the fact that Sasuke met him halfway in this; something Sasuke had probably never done before. He just really wanted to sleep next to the dark-haired boy. Nothing, in that moment, seemed better than hearing that breath all night. 

To watch that soulmark go up and down over and over again. 

Sasuke had goosebumps all over his arms. Naruto pulled him in a little closer. ‘Alright..’ 

‘Possibly fuck m–’ 

‘Let’s save that talk for tomorrow.’ 

Sasuke chuckled, slipped away from Naruto’s grip, and walked towards his room. ‘Prude.’ 

‘Asshole.’ He followed right behind his asshole, until Sasuke’s door was closed behind him, and it was official. _He was going to sleep next to Sasuke Uchiha. He was going to stay with his soulmate._

They might as well just..rebuild his room into a study, or something. He never wanted to sleep anywhere but in Sasuke’s room. Every again. Sasuke was surprisingly non-sexual about the whole thing. He had expected drunk Sasuke to at least say a few provoking things. As soon as they were inside of the bedroom though, Sasuke pulled off his pants, and laid down underneath his blankets, and sighed. That breath sounded like one he’d been holding. 

Naruto watched how his soulmate pushed his face into his pillow. Sasuke’s sleepy eyes watched him as he moved to put on some of Sasuke’s sweatpants. ‘You always steal those..’ Sasuke mumbled. 

Naruto chuckled. ‘You get my heart in return.’ 

Sasuke smiled sleepily. ‘Ugh, you’re cheesy. Disgusting.’ 

He pulled up the soft pants, and then crawled into the bed next to Sasuke. The other turned around so that he was laying towards Naruto. He stared at him as he pulled up the blankets. Naruto could feel his hip sink into the soft mattress. ‘Your mattress is so much better than mine, unbelievable.’ 

‘Your mattress feels, and looks, like you grabbed it off the streets somewhere.’ Sasuke mumbled as he shuffled a little closer. 

‘Asshole, my mattress and I just go way back.’ Sasuke smiled, barely noticeable. This was easy. Sasuke was, above all, his best friend. And his eyes were falling closed slowly, peacefully. He looked beautiful. ‘Hey.. I can’t believe I don’t know this about you, but– do you like cuddling?’ 

‘Hm– Not really,’

Naruto stared at his best friend, breathed out carefully: ‘– Okay.’ 

Sasuke chuckled lightly. ‘Idiot.’ He mumbled. 

‘What? Asshole?’ 

The other opened his dark eyes again, there was a lovely gleam inside of them. Something light and playful. ‘Even I get proved wrong, sometimes, though.’ He mumbled. He threw the words Naruto himself had said before the party right back at him. 

It made Naruto’s heart stop. 

His. This man was his. 

‘What are you waiting for, idiot?’

Naruto grinned brightly, feeling lighter than he had felt in a long time. Maybe ever. Then he pulled Sasuke into his arms. Laying like that, with Sasuke leaning on top of his arm, it felt like they could never belong anywhere else. It just.. fitted. 

Sasuke hadn’t.. searched for anything else. The knowledge that he had always known that he had a soulmate kind of explained that now. He never really questioned Sasuke’s disinterest, though; Sasuke didn’t seem to match anyone. His soulmate barely showed anyone any interest, and once he did they broke it off soon after getting to know each other. 

He’d watched Naruto try. He’d watched Naruto date, fall in and out of love. He’d watched all the stumbling, the love making, the crying. He’d watched the entire thing with an amazing calmth.

Maybe because he didn’t want to convince Naruto; he wanted Naruto to stumble into his arms by himself. Maybe with some help of the soulmarks, because help.. he had needed. 

Sasuke fell asleep almost right away, his breath slowing down. Naruto kissed the top of his head. Then, as if he fell inside of his dream, Sasuke woke up for just a second. ‘Wh– You’re here..’ he whispered. 

‘I’m here.’ Naruto replied to the sleepy man. He wondered how clear Sasuke was thinking right now. 

‘–Finally.’ 

He’d told Sasuke.. that he’d kiss him if they woke up without any regret. Sasuke had woken up before he did; of course he had. Once he was waking up, Sasuke was already sitting next, a book on his lap and a glass of water on the table next to his bed. 

Naruto just reached out, pulled himself against Sasuke’s lap with a tired moan. 

‘Good morning,’ Sasuke said casually. 

‘You.. hm–hungover?’ 

‘Nothing bad.’ Sasuke said. He closed the book, making sure Naruto knew he had his full attention. 

Naruto slowly sat up a little, against Sasuke’s arm and the pillow he was leaning against. Sasuke just moved to the side a little bit, making space for Naruto to slouch against him. ‘I’m glad.’ 

‘Hm..’ Sasuke got the book from his lap, and put it down next to him. 

Naruto saw that as a sign to move. Sasuke was making space for him. Step by step, like he always had, making clear that he always wanted Naruto around. So Naruto moved quickly, and in the only way he knew how to; passionate and reckless. He sat up, put his legs on either side on Sasuke, and sat down on his lap. 

Sasuke smirked. ‘What are you doing?’ 

‘I made a promise yesterday.’ 

Sasuke chuckled. ‘Right. To kiss me.’ 

Naruto grinned brightly. ‘Yeah, does that offer still stand?’

‘I guess. I’ll be stuck with you anyway. I might as well just let you kiss me.’ 

Naruto laughed. ‘You’re such an ashhole.’ 

‘Stuck with m–’ Naruto took that as the perfect moment to kiss Sasuke. He leaned forward, kissed his soulmate deeply. He earned a surprised sound from the other. That only made him deepen the kiss. Sasuke didn’t seem to complain though, opening his mouth as if Naruto had asked him all too kindly. 

Sasuke pressed his hips up in return. The friction made Naruto’s stomach turn. _He fucking loved this man._ Naruto bit his lip as an answer, pulled Sasuke’s hair softly. Then he placed his forehead against the other’s, pulling back slowly. Their lips stuck together for a second, until Naruto grinned about it. ‘Holy fucking shit.’ Naruto mumbled. 

‘Charming, Naruto.’ 

‘A first kiss to remember..’ 

Sasuke chuckled. ‘I’m pretty sure that was our fourth one.’ 

Naruto could remember the one Sasuke had recklessly given him on the balcony. Emotional, pissed off, without a hint of communication. That kiss had turned his words upside down. And then there was the kiss they had shared yesterday. A soulmates kiss, soft and completed with trust. And then– Huh– ‘That accidental kiss in high school? Can’t believe you remembe– wait a fucking second–’ 

‘You didn’t realize yet, did you?’ 

‘That fucking soulmark– holyshit!’ Sasuke flinched at his loud voice. ‘It appeared not too long after that! How the hell did I– It was so obvious.’ He turned away from Sasuke, hit his own face. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. His hard on was still playfully poking him. ‘Why am I not surprised?’ 

Naruto pushed him against the headboard. ‘Asshole. You’ve known since then?’ 

‘I’m not stupi–’ Naruto kissed him again. He kissed him as deep as possible, to shut him up, just to feel them being as close as possible. 

‘Shut up,’ he said in between kisses. He kissed Sasuke’s jaw, his neck, his ear. Sasuke breathed in sharply, pulling Naruto’s hair softly. ‘You’re crazy. You’re so beautiful.’ 

Sasuke moved with Naruto’s lips, then cockily said: ‘Make up your mind, do you like me or not?’ 

Naruto rolled his hips against Sasuke’s, kissed his tempel lightly. ‘I like you a fuckton.’ 

‘Embarrassing.’ 

‘Shut up.’ 

‘Kiss me.’ 

Naruto grinned. ‘Spoiled.’ He did so anyway. He didn’t mind spoiling Sasuke, not one little bit. He kissed Sasuke softly, just the touch of their lips. Their noses rubbed against each other. Sasuke gripped Naruto’s shirt as if this was their heaviest kiss. ‘Hm– you want some coffee?’

Sasuke nodded slowly. ‘Sure.’ 

Naruto pulled away, got off Sasuke. The floor was cold as hell. ‘Coffee for my moon,’ he said brightly. 

‘Are you going to be like this for the rest of my life?’ 

Naruto grinned, went to Sasuke’s closet to grab himself a pair of warm socks. ‘Jup! Problem, bastard?’ 

‘You could be a little less bright.’ 

Naruto chuckled, threw a pair of socks at Sasuke. ‘You don’t actually want that.’ 

Sasuke ignored that, telling Naruto that: _no, he didn’t want that._ Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s hand, pulled his soulmate up from the bed. 

‘Cold,’ Sasuke complained. As some sort of reply Naruto pulled his green sweater from the floor, held it out to Sasuke. He really, really wanted to see how it would look on his lover. 

‘Why are you like this?’ Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes and grabbing Naruto’s sweater from Naruto’s hands anyway. He pulled the sweater on quickly, pulled the sleeves so that they were covering his hands. 

Naruto only shrugged in response, staring at Sasuke as if he was the only thing that existed in this world. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at him. ‘Keep staring at that, and I’ll take the sweater off again,’ he threatened. 

Naruto straightened up comically, laughing to himself. ‘Yes sir! Coffee.. Coffee..’ He walked towards the kitchen, Sasuke following slowly behind him. He wished he could hold the other just a little longer. Stare just a little more, kiss another few times. 

Sasuke sat down at the kitchen table, pulled out his book again. 

And there they were again; where they had always been after waking up. Naruto casually made one coffee without sugar, and then another one with. He picked the simple grey mug for Sasuke, his froggy mug for himself, and then he moved towards the table it was the same as always, still everything seemed to be immensely different today. 

‘Coffee, coffee, coffee–’ he sang, dancing towards Sasuke. Sasuke was trying to hold back his smile, but didn’t comment on it. Naruto placed the coffee on the table, then he sat down on the other chair.

There they were.. the same they had always been; bickering like a goddamn married couple, drinking their first morning coffee together–   
‘Thank you,’ Sasuke said softly. He shuffled his chair a little closer to Naruto’s, pulled his legs up and laid them on top of Naruto’s lap. Then he picked up his coffee with one hand, and took Naruto’s hand with his other. 

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, confused by the sudden affection. Sasuke wasn’t looking back at him, he was calmly sipping his coffee.

‘S’ that good?’ Naruto asked. 

Sasuke caressed his hand softly, nodded. ‘Yeah..’ 

Bickering like a married couple, drinking their first morning coffee together– and for the first time ever it felt complete. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked that!  
> Comments make me happy (:
> 
> You can now buy me a coffee: [click here for my ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/fluijten) ! <3


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